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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24952756">We're Usually About To Die</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/found_the_good_things/pseuds/found_the_good_things'>found_the_good_things</a>, <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/lesducks/pseuds/lesducks'>lesducks</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Percy Jackson and the Olympians &amp; Related Fandoms - All Media Types, We Are The Tigers - Allen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Annleigh is a Demeter kid, Cairo is an Aphrodite kid, Chess is a Roman Apollo kid, Chess is about to leave the legion, Clark and Reese are Hermes kids, Eva is an Athena kid, F/F, F/M, Farrah is a Dionysus kid, Iris Message Tomorrow, Kate is a Mars kid, Mattie is an Iris kid, Riley is a Nemesis kid, Tasha is mostly a background character, The HOO characters are mentioned</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 09:15:23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,718</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24952756</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/found_the_good_things/pseuds/found_the_good_things, https://archiveofourown.org/users/lesducks/pseuds/lesducks</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>We Are The Tigers... but they're demigods!<br/>The war with Gaea has just ended. Everyone made it through, but just as they're trying to start over, two step-sisters have arrived at camp, and before they can get their bearings, they're sent on a dangerous quest to stop a group of dangerous demons.<br/>The title is from Bring On The Monsters from The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical<br/>The co-authors can be found on Tumblr at thatboleyngirlreads and lesducks</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Annleigh/Clark (We Are The Tigers), Cairo/Riley (We Are The Tigers), Chess &amp; Kate (We Are The Tigers), Farrah &amp; Annleigh, Kate/Eva Sanchez (We Are The Tigers), Mattie/Tasha</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>46</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Prologue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“That has got to be the most pathetic call to war </span>
  <em>
    <span>ever</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Chess pulled an arrow from her quiver and shot it into a gryphon’s eye. “I don’t know, I think it’s charming.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“‘Greeks, let’s fight stuff’,” Kate mocked, wincing as an ogre almost hit her. “It’s pathetic.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey, watch out!” someone yelled behind her, and Kate ducked just before a centaur cut her head off.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She cursed in Latin and turned to see who’d saved her, the “thanks” sticking in her throat when she met the eyes of a very unfairly cute girl, clearly Greek based on her orange t-shirt.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You okay?” the girl asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks for the heads-up.” Kate noticed a pin on her shirt - a tiny rainbow heart. “I-I like your pin.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thanks. My name’s Eva.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Kate.” Kate shook her hand, forgetting for half a second where they were.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Kate, this is </span>
  <em>
    <span>not the time</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” Chess shouted.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh- right, there’s a war going on.” Eva awkwardly saluted and then ran back the way she’d come, and Kate forcibly tore her gaze away and once again focused on not dying.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is she going to be okay?” Chess asked anxiously. As an Apollo kid, it was her job to be in the infirmary, but her skills weren’t as advanced as some of the other kids’ and she’d been confined to wrapping sprained and broken limbs, not patching up stab and arrow wounds.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kate crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. “I’m literally right here, perfectly lucid and fine.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Except for the arrow that was sticking out of your leg an hour ago!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That was an hour ago.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh my gods, Kate.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey, uh, my wrist is killing me, can I get someone to look at it?” asked someone behind her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Chess, get on it,” called the head counselor of Camp Half-Blood’s Apollo cabin. What was his name? Will?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Chess rolled her eyes, made a face at Kate, and then turned to get some bandages.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thanks. I’m Reese, by the way. Hermes cabin.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Chess. Apollo. The Roman one.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh- you’re Roman?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, and?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nothing.” Reese shrugged, then winced as Chess started to inspect her wrist. “We were enemies twelve hours ago, though.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s not twelve hours ago,” Kate called.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are you eavesdropping?” Chess asked, knowing the answer.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Only a little bit!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Chess muttered something in Latin under her breath as she finished with Reese’s bandages. “Okay, you’re all good.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thank you! I’ll- I’ll see you around, I guess?” Reese left the tent with a glance back, and Chess managed a smile at her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hate” was a word Clark did not use lightly, but it was definitely one he wanted to use right now about Gaea.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Look at this </span>
  <em>
    <span>mess</span>
  </em>
  <span>! Camp Half-Blood was in shambles! Demigods were staggering around, wrapped in bandages and wearing blood-stained clothes, the ground was uneven and the grass torn up, and there were cracks in those cabins that were made of marble. He’d already sent two of his half-sisters to the infirmary, but they’d almost refused to go because they said their injuries were manageable and there were already too many kids for the Apollo cabin to treat. This wreckage might have been worse than the Battle of Manhattan.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>At least after the Battle of Manhattan, the whole camp celebrated a victory that felt wonderfully non-serious when they threw Percy and Annabeth in the lake.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Clark had treated his cuts and bruises himself with the nectar stashed under his bunk, well aware of the fact that he was a massive hypocrite, and then climbed on top of his cabin to think.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He didn’t like fighting. He knew he had to, of course, to keep people safe, but he hated the feeling of killing even the most disgusting and violent monster. He hated hearing the sound of breaking bones, the screams of pain from both demigod and monster, the anguished calls from those who watched their loved ones die.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But he didn’t have much of a choice.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Mattie’s cabin was rainbow and bright and cheery.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Normally she loved it, but her mood after the battle would have been better suited to the dark, gloomy Hades cabin. She didn’t want to open her eyes and see cheerful bright glitter, not when people were bloody and hurt and </span>
  <em>
    <span>oh my gods I think I’m going to be sick.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Nothing felt okay. She’d been lucky enough to come to camp after the war with Kronos, and this had been the first major conflict she’d ever faced. She regretted ever joining the cheer squad at her old school - then she wouldn’t have met that satyr and wouldn’t have found out that she was a half-blood. She should have just joined the chess club or something. Then maybe she’d have a way better definition of a bad day than WAR.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cairo had never been much of a fighter until her half-sister, Piper, came along.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sure, sometimes she’d join in a little bit during Capture the Flag to make Riley happy, and she’d helped guard the wounded during the Battle of Manhattan. But this was way bigger than anything else she’d ever done.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She didn’t feel okay unless she was with Riley. Riley could make her smile and laugh and make her feel better, if only for a little bit.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She was a child of Aphrodite, and so she quickly realized </span>
  <em>
    <span>why</span>
  </em>
  <span> Riley made her feel better.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Because she loved Riley, just a little bit.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But she would never, never break Riley’s heart, not for any stupid tradition.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Riley was too good for that.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Riley was also trying to convince Cairo to let her teach her how to use a bow and arrow.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m not a distance fighter, Riley,” she tried. “And I have the </span>
  <em>
    <span>worst</span>
  </em>
  <span> aim.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Come on, Cai! It’s a skill that could come in handy sometime,” Riley pleaded. “And anyways, it’ll be fun!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Learning to use deadly weapons is fun?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fine, whatever, I’ll do it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Riley beamed and grabbed her hand to drag her to the training arena, and Cairo ignored the thumping in her chest.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Maybe next time, this’ll help me stop a death.</span>
  </em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter One</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The list of bugs Annleigh liked was very short.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>1: Butterflies</span>
</p><p>
  <span>2: Ladybugs</span>
</p><p>
  <span>3: Honeybees (but they were on thin ice)</span>
</p><p>
  <span>4: Pillbugs (on a good day)</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Those were the only four bugs that </span>
  <em>
    <span>didn’t</span>
  </em>
  <span> accost her during her trip to wherever she was going.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ants, moths, spiders - oh, God, the </span>
  <em>
    <span>spiders</span>
  </em>
  <span> - dove at her at every turn, crawled on her when she tried to sleep, appeared on her water bottle when she just wanted a drink.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Farrah didn’t seem to mind. She pestered Jordan with questions at every turn - questions he didn’t actually answer - and showed Annleigh cool rocks she’d found and didn’t seem at all perturbed about the fact that three days ago, something had clawed its way through the back door and the quiet kid in the back of Annleigh’s math class had showed up at their house and told them to pack a backpack because they were in danger and had to leave immediately.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Although maybe Farrah was just refusing to think about it. Maybe Annleigh should try that.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>After several days of hiking and hitchhiking, Annleigh spotted something in the distance - a sign that read “Delphi Strawberry Services.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jordan held up an arm to stop them. “Before we go into camp, I need you both to promise me that you won’t freak out.” Then he started walking again towards the rolling strawberry fields, and after a moment, Annleigh and Farrah caught up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Gah! What the fuck was that?” Farrah yelped as something shocked all of them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The border. Welcome to Camp Half-Blood,” Jordan said in a bored voice. With a start, Annleigh realized that all but two of the strawberry fields had been replaced by what looked like a horseshoe of cabins, a climbing wall - was that </span>
  <em>
    <span>lava?</span>
  </em>
  <span> - an open pavilion, some sort of open flat stone arena, a canoe lake, and a big, four-story blue house. All of it looked beat up and torn apart, like it had recently been ransacked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The whole thing was occupied by various teenagers, all in orange shirts. They all looked up and stared at them, and Annleigh stared at her shoes, suddenly feeling very self-conscious.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“C’mon, to the Big House,” Jordan continued, and led the two of them to the blue house. As they approached, Annleigh heard heavy beats behind her and turned around to see a man trotting up on a horse.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Wait - but the horse had no head, and the man had no legs-</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Annleigh, are you seeing the centaur, too?” Farrah asked under her breath.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh my God,” Annleigh said faintly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The centaur smiled and spread his arms. “Welcome to Camp Half-Blood! My name is Chiron, I’m the activities director. And you are?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“This is Annleigh and Farrah,” Jordan said for them. “Step-sisters. I doubt they have the same godly parent.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sorry- godly what-now?” Annleigh asked, but everyone ignored her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mr. D, we have new campers,” Chiron called, and after a moment, a middle-aged man with a serious beer belly wearing a Hawaiian shirt came out of the house, clutching a Coke.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ugh.” He studied Annleigh and Farrah, and something in his eyes scared Annleigh out of her mind. “Oh, hey. I think that one’s mine.” He pointed, and for half a second, Annleigh thought he was pointing at her, but then she realized he was actually pointing at Farrah.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Uh, what?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What was your name?” The man yawned. “Fairy?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Farrah, actually.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Surprise, I’m your dad.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>What?</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Chiron shook his head and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “You’re technically still supposed to formally claim her.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hm? Oh, right.” The man waved his hand, and a glowing bunch of purple grapes appeared over Farrah’s head. She looked up and shrieked, ignoring everyone’s attempts to calm her down.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“HOLY FUCK WHAT IS GOING ON?” she screamed, batting at it. Annleigh tried to seize her wrists, but she wrenched herself out of her grip.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Farrah, calm down,” Chiron said calmly. “You’ve just been claimed. Hail Farrah Ellphan, daughter of Dionysus.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>What the fuck what the fuck what the fuCK WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK-</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hi! My name’s Riley, I’ll be showing you around today!” chirped a cheerful redhead. “I’m sorry that camp is a bit of a mess right now, we had a bit of a battle a week ago.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“A bit?” scoffed the dark-skinned girl next to her. “We fought Mother fucking Earth.”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Right, because that makes sense.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Not helpful, Cai!” Riley said through clenched teeth and a forced smile. “Moving on! Down there are the cabins, and then the training arena, oh, and here’s the infirmary. It’s a bit full right now, we’ve even got a Roman.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“She’s not a trophy or whatever,” yelled a voice from the mouth of the medical tent.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Oh, that would be Chess. She's accomping her wounded friend, Kate," Riley explained.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Riley!"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Sorry!" Riley smiled brightly. “Come on! I’ll show you to your cabins!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So,” Riley continued as they neared the cabins, “you’re sorted into cabins by your godly parent. My mother is Nemesis, Cairo’s is Aphrodite. Farrah, you’ll be in Dionysus’s cabin, and Annleigh, you’ll be with Hermes until you’re claimed.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Farrah studied her cabin, then jumped when Cairo shoved her towards it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Go in. Time to meet your half-brother, kid,” she said, and after a minute of hesitation Farrah stepped onto the deck, the words </span>
  <em>
    <span>half-brother</span>
  </em>
  <span> filling every part of her brain.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Everyone except for Eva was staring at the new girls, but Eva was too busy staring at that pretty Roman girl.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kate.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The one who had an arrow sticking out of her leg last week, but was so stubborn that she limped up to the campfire and refused support from her friend.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Chiron raised a hand for silence, and Eva tore her gaze away from Kate as the whispers subsided so he could speak.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Campers,” he said, his voice echoing through the amphitheatre, “as you know, today we received two new half-bloods.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“A week too late,” called a voice from the Ares cabin.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Clarisse,” Chiron said in a warning tone, then continued. “One has already been claimed by Mr. D, and the other remains unclaimed, though she is sixteen.” He raised his arms to the sky. “O gods of Olympus, we beg you, claim Annleigh Ellphan as one of yours.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nothing happened for a moment, and Eva stifled a yawn.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Then the girl - Annleigh - shrieked, and a golden sickle appeared over her head.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hail Annleigh Ellphan, daughter of Demeter,” Chiron called, and everyone kneeled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>After the campfire, Eva caught up to Kate and Chess after just a moment of hesitation on whether she should. “Uh, hey,” she said nervously. Kate turned to look at her, and a smile ghosted across her lips.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey,” she said back. “Eva, right? We met, uh, during the battle.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah.” Eva wondered what to say next.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Want to walk back to the cabins with us?” Chess asked. “I’m staying in Apollo’s cabin, and starting tonight, Kate’s staying in the Ares one.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Um, sure,” Eva said. “I’m an Athena kid, by the way. Which you probably already knew- shit, sorry.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s okay.” Kate paused for a second. “Your mother is Athena?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh. It’s just… Minerva is a, uh, a maiden goddess to us. The idea of her having kids is just kinda strange.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eva wondered if she should explain how she was actually born, but decided not to. That seemed like a terrible icebreaker.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sorry, I-I didn’t mean to make you feel weird,” Kate said quickly. Chess gave her an odd look, but she ignored it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s okay, I just never really thought about that.” Eva shrugged. “It probably feels like finding out Artemis has Roman kids. Which of course she doesn’t, but, you know.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, I guess.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, this is my cabin,” Chess said. “I’ll see you two tomorrow?” Then she winked at Kate, who glared at her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good </span>
  <em>
    <span>night</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” Kate said firmly, then kept going. Eva followed her, kind of in awe of this cute, badass girl.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So… what do you think of Camp Half-Blood?” she asked awkwardly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kate shrugged. “It’s definitely different from Camp Jupiter. Reyna can’t yell at me here, though, so that’s nice.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The praetor yells at you herself?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, yeah, all the time. I’m not good at rules.” Kate shot a smile at Eva. “I’ve been there for nine years, so Reyna’s pissed that I still won’t follow the rules.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nine </span>
  <em>
    <span>years</span>
  </em>
  <span>?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, I graduate in a year.” Kate looked down. “Chess leaves in a month.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“O-oh.” Eva wondered how to respond to that. “I’m sorry.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t apologize, it is what it is.” Kate shrugged. “How long have you been here?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Only four years. Which, you know, is longer than a lot of kids, but it’s definitely not nine years. I’m a year-rounder, too, so I train more than just in the summer.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s cool.” Kate looked around. “I like it a lot here, you know. It’s nice.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, it is.” Eva watched the stars reflect in Kate’s eyes, her heart rate speeding up.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Wow.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>~~~~~~~~~~~~~</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Demeter cabin was certainly homey.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The roof was covered in grass and had a little garden on top, and there was an apple tree in the middle of the cabin that went through the roof and had steps built into it to get to the different levels of the cabin. The whole thing smelled like apples, earth, and roses, which was pleasant, and the bunks were soft and warm.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It scared the heck out of Annleigh.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>This didn’t make any </span>
  <em>
    <span>sense</span>
  </em>
  <span>. She’d grown up being told that there was only one God, who was greater than anyone and all-powerful. And now her mother was some ancient Greek deity? There was no way this was possible.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And yet…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There had been a glowing sickle over her head at the campfire that night. There were kids with scars and kids with limps and kids missing limbs. There was Mr. D, who had summoned a Coke out of thin air at dinner - a dinner where they had to sacrifice the best parts of their plates.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Oh, this was </span>
  <em>
    <span>weird.</span>
  </em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>We kinda guessed at how Dionysus claimed his kids, lmao</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter Two</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Clark was very good at reading emotions.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It wasn’t some sort of superpower inherited from his father, it was just something about Clark: he could read emotions. He could tell when someone was scared, when they were sad, when they were hurting. And Chiron was worried.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His smile was just a little bit tense, he was staring into space a little more than usual, and he ended campfire seven minutes early.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>So instead of going back to his cabin, Clark quietly snuck away from his half-siblings, pretended he was taking the long way back, and started towards the Big House, flinching when the silence was cut through by a laugh. He glanced back to see Riley, head counselor of the Nemesis cabin, with her best friend Cairo, daughter of Aphrodite. The two of them were leaning against a tree, talking and scaring Clark into thinking he’d gotten caught.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He caught his breath and kept going, carefully making his way up to the Big House. He told himself he was going to </span>
  <em>
    <span>talk</span>
  </em>
  <span> to Chiron, but then why would he be sneaking around so much?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Chiron, the </span>
  <em>
    <span>arai</span>
  </em>
  <span> are bad news,” said a voice inside the Big House. Clark crouched next to the window, telling himself he wasn’t eavesdropping, just… collecting information.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You know what they can do, right?” added another, more feminine voice. “They’re revenge spirits. They-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“They do to you what you’ve done to others,” Chiron interrupted, sounding tired. “I am aware.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s the problem,” said the first voice. “The more powerful the half-bloods sent after them are, the harder it’ll be to beat them because there are more wounds that can be inflicted on them.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I know.” Chiron sighed heavily. “Back to your cabins, you two. We’ll call a meeting with the head counselors in the morning.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Clark just barely hid behind a rocking chair when the door opened, and he recognized the two half-bloods that had left the Big House: Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase, whispering to each other. They were </span>
  <em>
    <span>legends</span>
  </em>
  <span>. They’d survived Tartarus!</span>
</p><p>
  <span>After a moment, when he was sure Percy and Annabeth were far enough away, he carefully snuck out of his hiding spot and started jogging back to his cabin, lost in thought.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Arai</span>
  <em>
    <span>… I know I’ve heard that word before.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>~~~~~~~~~~~~</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Chess missed Camp Jupiter.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kate might have liked it here - there were fewer rules and she definitely had a thing for that girl from the Athena cabin - but Chess needed rules. She needed order. She needed to </span>
  <em>
    <span>belong.</span>
  </em>
  <span> And Camp Half-Blood felt so foreign.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And the Apollo cabin was </span>
  <em>
    <span>nothing</span>
  </em>
  <span> like the bunks for the First Cohort back at Camp Jupiter. Those had stone walls and purple banners and lanterns and soft purple blankets, and kids with all different godly parents. The Apollo cabin was obnoxiously gold, and there was an altar for Apollo </span>
  <em>
    <span>in the cabin itself</span>
  </em>
  <span>, which never happened back home.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Chess didn’t sleep well, between the aggressive gold and the blood she saw every day and the memory of seeing an arrow sink into her best friend and the pain in her knee.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gods, it </span>
  <em>
    <span>hurt.</span>
  </em>
  <span> It was all she could do not to limp, and sometimes she did, only when nobody was looking. But it was manageable, and she’d just walk it off.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She always did.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>~~~~~~~~~~~~</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Farrah had a half-brother.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His name was Pollux and he was tall and blond and didn’t really look much like Farrah, but he was </span>
  <em>
    <span>related to her.</span>
  </em>
  <span> Like, actually her brother!</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Half-brother. Whatever.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She was a bit less excited about the parent they shared. Mr. D was sloppy and gross and she felt uncomfortable knowing he was her father. She did know that he was the patron god of people who weren’t cisgender, which was kind of cool for her, since she was trans. But that might have been his only redeeming quality.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Actually, his cabin was cool, so that was another redeeming quality. There were grape vines all over the outside and strawberry plants in pots in all the corners, and all the fruit was constantly perfectly ripe. There were lots of windows and soft blankets, and Farrah liked it a lot.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She did miss Annleigh a little bit, but they saw each other during the day, which was nice.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>In fact, the next day was their first archery lesson, which the Demeter and Dionysus kids did together (“I was the only one here,” Pollux had explained, “so I just do everything with the other cabins.”) Farrah had only done archery once, at a friend’s house with a Nerf bow and arrows, so she was fairly excited until she found out what exactly they were using.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Uh, Pollux, these are pretty sharp,” she said, holding up an arrow and inspecting it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, they are.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is- is this safe?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Dunno. It’s how we’ve always done it. Gotta be able to handle sharp objects without hurting yourself, right?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Uh, sure?” Farrah grabbed her bow and quiver and jogged over where Annleigh was struggling with the strap of her own quiver. “Hey, how’s it going?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“This has got to be some sort of fever dream, right?” Annleigh asked desperately. “Maybe someone at school put drugs in the vents and this is just a weird hallucination.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wow, you’re actually wishing you were high? What has the world come to?” Farrah leaned against the low wall, watching Annleigh’s half-siblings talk amongst themselves. “I don’t know, I’m not sure this is a dream.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh my God,” Annleigh murmured.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I think they say ‘oh my gods’ here, actually.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nope, nope, that’s too weird. That crosses a line.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You were born into this religion, Annie.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t remind me. This just doesn’t make sense. Like, my mom’s daughter is married to my uncle and </span>
  <em>
    <span>nobody</span>
  </em>
  <span> questions this?” Annleigh’s eyes widened. “My brother-in-law is the lord of Hell!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Dude, calm down.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t tell me to calm down!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Annleigh-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nope, nope, this isn’t happening.” Annleigh squeezed her eyes shut. “I’m asleep and I’m going to wake up and be in bed at home and not wearing this bright orange t-shirt and I’m going to go to church and forget this crazy dream.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t think you are,” Farrah commented.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Farrah!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What did I do?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>~~~~~~~~~~~~~</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey, Reese, can- can I ask you something?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Reese looked up from her lanyard. “What’s up?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Have you ever heard of something called the </span>
  <em>
    <span>arai</span>
  </em>
  <span>?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mm… no, why?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Because I think… I don’t know. They’re something and Chiron might be worried about them.” Clark sat down next to her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Maybe we should look into it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know.” Reese shrugged. “I doubt the Athena cabin would let us in to read their books.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, they don’t trust Hermes kids.” Clark sighed. “We could… sneak in?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, we shouldn’t, that’s why they don’t trust us,” Reese argued.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We’ve got to do our research, though.” Clark beamed. “We’ll do it during Capture the Flag tomorrow night!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But Clark-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Tomorrow night! I’ll meet you behind the Nemesis cabin after the game starts, don’t be late!”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Clark suggesting breaking and entering is VERY IN-CHARACTER he's canonically committed that exact crime</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter Three</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“This is the </span>
  <em>
    <span>definition</span>
  </em>
  <span> of a bad idea,” Reese protested.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Clark tucked his helmet under his arm. “It’ll be fine, Reese. You’ll see.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, no it won’t. What if we get caught?” Reese froze. “What if we get caught by </span>
  <em>
    <span>Annabeth</span>
  </em>
  <span>? Nope, nope, not doing this.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Clark grabbed her arm and dragged her with him, ignoring her desperate complaints. “We’re doing this, Reese. End of story.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Clark, Clark, think about what you’re doing…” Reese’s words faded in his ears as he touched the lock on the door, closed his eyes, and </span>
  <em>
    <span>focused</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Come on, come on…</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>The lock clicked.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Yes!</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>"No, no, no," Reese muttered as he dragged her into the cabin.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Okay, start looking," Clark instructed. He pulled out a book, </span>
  <em>
    <span>Mythical Creatures of Ancient Greece: Ancient Greek Edition!</span>
  </em>
  <span> and started scanning it for the </span>
  <em>
    <span>arai.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>After a half hour, Reese grabbed his arm. "Clark, I found them!"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Wait, you did?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yes!" Reese showed him, and he read the definition, his excitement turning to dread in his stomach.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Oh my gods.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Footsteps outside made both of them jump, and after a moment of staring at each other, they frantically shoved the books back onto the shelves and dove out of the window.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They ran through the woods back to their team, but Reese yelped and fell, and Clark turned back to help her back up. As he did so, he saw what she'd tripped on and nearly puked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was a leg.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A leg attached to a corpse.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>~~~~~~~~</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Murder doesn't normally happen around here, right?" Kate asked Eva under her breath.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"No, not usually."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'm not sure that's comforting," Kate admitted. She gripped the handle of her Imperial golden dagger a little bit tighter, her stomach churning with nerves. At the dining pavilion, where Chiron had sent everyone after those Hermes kids had found the body, everyone was whispering amongst themselves, staring accusingly at everyone around them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kate, Chess, and Eva sat off to the side, pretty much doing what everyone else was doing - whispering to each other and looking around accusingly. Kate knew most of the other kids were staring at her and Chess - they were the skilled strangers who were very recently enemies of this camp. But she knew she hadn't done it, and she was sure it wasn't Chess, either.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Chess would never.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She didn’t know about Eva, but her budding feelings were telling her that it wasn’t her. She probably shouldn’t trust her budding feelings, but she also doubted it would be Eva for reasons that were logical, such as Chess’s willingness to be around her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her thoughts were interrupted when Chiron’s hoofbeats quieted the whispers and drew everyone’s attention to him. He raised a hand and waited a beat for the last voices to subside before he spoke.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The bodies have been identified as Brooke Lohst and Chloe Valentine,” he said somberly. “Both from the Aphrodite cabin.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There were gasps from the group of kids with perfectly manicured fingernails and shiny hair.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If anyone knows anything, </span>
  <em>
    <span>please</span>
  </em>
  <span>, step forward,” Chiron continued.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nobody did for a solid minute, then one kid stood up and pointed directly at Kate and Chess. “I bet it was them! The Romans and Greeks have always hated each other!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What the fuck? It wasn’t us!” Kate snapped.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And why should we believe you?” he demanded.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It was Celestial bronze that killed them,” said that kid, Will, from the Apollo cabin. “Both of them carry Imperial gold.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“See? It wasn’t us!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Chess pulled Kate back down onto the bench and kept a tight grip on her hand to keep her down. “It’s not worth the argument,” she murmured. “Yelling will just make everything worse, trust me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But Chess-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Kate, drop it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Was it you?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Kate chased that out of her brain the moment she thought it. Chess would never.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Right?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>~~~~~</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Mattie hated this camp.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She didn’t, really. It was all the home she had and she loved her half-siblings and her friends and her girlfriend.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But she hated death.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And just when she’d thought it was over, that the war had ended and they were as safe as half-bloods could get, two kids turned up dead for no reason. And someone here had killed them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A tap on the window by her bunk startled her out of her thoughts, and she glanced to the side and smiled at Tasha’s big grin.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tasha beckoned for her to come outside, and when she was sure none of her cabinmates were paying attention, Mattie slipped out the window, breathing in the cool night air.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Should we really be outside if there’s a murderer on the loose?” she worried.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tasha scoffed. “They killed Aphrodite kids. I’d like to see them try against an Ares kid.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And an Iris one!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, you’re </span>
  <em>
    <span>so</span>
  </em>
  <span> fearsome.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I am! I don’t like that sarcasm.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sorry, babe.” Tasha strung an arm around her shoulders and steered her away, wandering aimlessly. “You did take out two Hermes kids at once during Capture the Flag.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, I can be scary.” Mattie crossed her arms. “Although I would prefer not to run into any murderers tonight. I want it to just be you and me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tasha raised the hand attached to the arm around Mattie and pointed ahead. “You, me, and a shit-ton of strawberries.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>~~~~~</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cairo would admit it: she was spooked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Two of her half-sisters were </span>
  <em>
    <span>dead.</span>
  </em>
  <span> She’d never been that close to Chloe or Brooke, but she knew them. She shared a cabin with them, argued over the shower in the mornings with them, gossiped with them. And now someone had </span>
  <em>
    <span>killed</span>
  </em>
  <span> them in cold blood.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Who would want to hurt Chloe and Brooke? Sure, they could be a tad empty-headed and gossipy, but at most, they were just annoying. Not worth killing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cairo rolled over, her stomach twisting.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Both the victims were daughters of Aphrodite, just like her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Was she next?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>~~~~~</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Farrah had actually been starting to like it here until they found dead bodies in the woods.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Capture the Flag had been weird, and she definitely wasn’t used to using swords and armor. But the principle of the game was the same as it had been when she was in middle school at recess, and it felt comfortingly familiar with just a tad of weirdness thrown in.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She </span>
  <em>
    <span>loved </span>
  </em>
  <span>it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But then those two Hermes kids came running into camp, screaming bloody murder, and Farrah and the others had been jostled back to the dining pavilion with whispers about bodies in the woods.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>What the actual fuck?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>She couldn’t help but wonder who had done it. Was it that angry Ares head counselor? Was it the quiet Iris kid who’d made her a lanyard yesterday? Was it </span>
  <em>
    <span>Pollux?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Okay, nope, not thinking about her only cabinmate being a murderer. That would not be good for her mental health. Just like thinking about how a year ago, she’d been knee-deep in vodka and wine, and wondering if who her father was had accidentally caused it.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>No, shut up, I said I wasn’t thinking about that!</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Fuck, now I’m thinking about that.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>~~~~~</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Deep in the woods, a tall, thin figure in an orange t-shirt leaned against a tree, wiping the blood and dirt off the knife they’d hidden earlier. Nearby, Chloe Valentine’s body still stared up at the stars without seeing anything.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The figure looked at Chloe, looked at the knife, and smiled.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Shoutout to the discord, who told us which two characters from another musical they wanted to see but didn't ask why, nor expected to see killed.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter Four</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“So what’s up?” asked Travis Stoll, putting both his feet on the table. Katie Gardner shoved them off, and they glared at each other for a moment. Riley grit her teeth and looked away, wishing Camp Half-Blood could take </span>
  <em>
    <span>anything </span>
  </em>
  <span>seriously.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“There’s something I need to discuss with you all,” Chiron said gravely. He nodded to Annabeth Chase. “Annabeth, would you mind…?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sure.” Annabeth stood up. “When Percy and I were… when we were in Tartarus-” she spit the word like it burned in her mouth- “we had an encounter with demons called the </span>
  <em>
    <span>arai</span>
  </em>
  <span>. The </span>
  <em>
    <span>arai</span>
  </em>
  <span> are only as dangerous as you are - when you hit them, they inflict you with a wound you gave to someone else in the past. And they’ve escaped into the mortal world.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And that’s really, </span>
  <em>
    <span>really </span>
  </em>
  <span>bad,” Percy Jackson added.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes, obviously, that was implied,” Annabeth said offhandedly. “Someone needs to lead a quest to bring them back.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll do it!” Riley said, standing up. “I’ll lead the quest!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Chiron looked around the table. “Anyone else want to contest that?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Silence.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’ll need a prophecy, then,” Rachel said. “Chiron, we should have a campfire tonight to give Riley her prophecy and choose her questing partners.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I will call one.” Chiron sighed heavily. “Riley, you will hear your prophecy, choose your questing partners, and leave tomorrow.”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Woah, tomorrow?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Hell yeah!</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>~~~~~</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You </span>
  <em>
    <span>what</span>
  </em>
  <span>?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m leading the quest, Cai!” Riley repeated eagerly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Just- just to be clear, the super-dangerous quest to herd super-dangerous spirits back into super-dangerous Tartarus?” Cairo demanded.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s the one!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Huh. You’re insane.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What? No! Cai, this is my chance to </span>
  <em>
    <span>prove myself</span>
  </em>
  <span>!” Riley’s eyes sparkled like a kid in a candy shop. “I’m finally going to lead a quest!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Or it’s your chance to get yourself killed!” Cairo paused to take a deep breath. “I’m coming with you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You might not be in the prophecy-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t care if I’m in the prophecy or not, I’m coming.” Cairo grabbed Riley’s hands. “If you die, and you very well might, I’ll die with you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That does not sound very comforting, Cai…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It wasn’t meant to be.” Cairo was suddenly very aware of the fact that she was </span>
  <em>
    <span>holding Riley’s hands</span>
  </em>
  <span>, so she let go and stepped back. “Look, even if I’m not in the prophecy, I’ll- I’ll sneak out, or something. I’m coming.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Riley hesitated, then shook her head. “I’m sorry, Cai. But no, if you’re not in the prophecy, you’re not coming.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>~~~~~</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What’s going on?” Kate asked for the billionth time, and for the billionth time, her Greek half-siblings ignored her. “Why is there a campfire?” she tried, but still didn’t get a response. “Great, thanks, you’re all so fucking helpful.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She followed behind the clump of Ares kids, crossing her arms and glaring at everyone who glanced at her, knowing she was limping but not caring.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It wasn’t like she wasn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>used</span>
  </em>
  <span> to nobody telling her anything. Because she refused to behave, she was always in trouble and didn’t move up the ranks. She was only in the first cohort because she was a skilled fighter and battle strategist. Not because people trusted her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Not that she’d given them reason to trust her. She only trusted Chess, and according to everyone, that made her dangerous.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She shook herself out of her thoughts as she sat next to Chess, not letting her scowl fade. “What’s going on?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I was hoping you knew,” Chess murmured back. Kate rolled her eyes and leaned forward, resting her elbows on her legs (carefully avoiding her arrow wound). Campers slowly trickled into the pavilion, none of them looking any more aware of the circumstances than Kate and Chess were.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Campers,” Chiron said gravely once everyone was there, “I’m afraid I have some bad news. The ghostly spirits </span>
  <em>
    <span>arai</span>
  </em>
  <span> have been released from Tartarus.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, come </span>
  <em>
    <span>on</span>
  </em>
  <span>!” someone across the pavilion from Kate shouted.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Riley Williams, head counselor of the Nemesis cabin, has volunteered to lead the quest,” Chiron continued. “Rachel?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A girl with red hair and paint-splattered clothes stepped into the center. “Right. Riley?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Another redhead came to stand in front of the first - Rachel. “I’m ready.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Rachel closed her eyes and turned her palms up to the sky. Kate dug her fingernails into her palm when Rachel’s eyes opened and were completely bright green. She began to speak, and as she did, green fog curled around her feet and arms.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Daughters of Greece, daughter of Rome</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Daughters of blood, rain and vengeance thrown</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>A terrible secret within has grown</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Eating away at one they call their own</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Vengeance will come in more ways than one</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Before and after the fight is done</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Rome’s defense on weak legs stand </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>The lonely god’s follower forced into new land</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>A dove in flight makes a valued find </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Tear themselves apart to save mankind.</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Rachel collapsed just as she finished speaking, but two other kids caught her and laid her at the edge of the circle, just out of the flickering firelight.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Daughter of Rome.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Either me or Chess.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Daughter of blood…</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>That’s me.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m in the prophecy,” she said loudly, standing up. “I’m coming.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Kate!” Chess said harshly. “Sit down, you’re hurt, you’re not going.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Chess,” Kate said through clenched teeth, “I’m in the prophecy and I’m going.” She stepped forward into the circle to join Riley, who held out a hand for her to shake. Kate glanced at Riley’s hand, then at her hopeful expression, and looked away, crossing her arms.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Chiron cleared his throat. “Right. According to the prophecy, we need a daughter of Iris?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Iris only had seven kids. Just two of them were daughters. One looked about eight.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The other stood up. “I-I volunteer.” She came into the middle, looking terrified but ready.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Riley Williams, Mattie Wheeler, and Kate Dalton, we wish you luck on your quest,” Chiron said gravely. “You leave at dawn.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>~~~~~</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Annleigh, wait up!” Farrah called after campfire.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Annleigh turned around. “What, Farrah?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Farrah plowed ahead even though Annleigh sounded exhausted and not in the mood for any of her ideas. “We should go on that quest.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s a bad idea.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, it isn’t, actually!” Farrah grabbed Annleigh’s arm. “Look, I’ve heard of the </span>
  <em>
    <span>arai</span>
  </em>
  <span>, I did a project on them in English last year. They’re revenge spirits, the only wounds they can inflict on you are wounds you’ve inflicted on others. We haven’t done anything that physically harms anyone, so we’re basically immune!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m not sure that’s how it works-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s the simple version of how it works. We should go!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Farrah, we’ve been here for, like, four days. It’s a bad idea.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That kid Percy Jackson, the Poseidon legend? He was here for like a month before he went on a quest.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“A month is not the same as four days!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Those other kids are trained, we’ll be fine with them!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Farrah-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We’re going to sneak into their quest. We’ve got to.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>~~~~~</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kate glanced up from her book. “Eva?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, hi, um. I’m- I’m coming? On your quest? Yeah, I’m coming, and you can’t stop me.” Eva put her hands on her hips, and Kate stifled a laugh. Gods, this girl was cute.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What makes you think you’re coming?” she asked, closing her book.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Uh, for starters, those two new girls are-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, they haven’t told you yet- yeah, I heard them talking about it last night.” Eva’s confident demeanor subsided. “I thought that maybe I could help?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And what makes you think </span>
  <em>
    <span>they’re</span>
  </em>
  <span> coming?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“They seemed very determined.” Eva shrugged, fiddling with her leather necklace. “I think I should come, too. I can help. I’m a good planner, I’m good at battle strategy-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m not leading the quest,” Kate reminded her, cutting her off. “You’ll have to convince Riley.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh. Right.” Eva took a deep breath and smiled nervously at Kate. “Um. Yes. I should- I should go talk to Riley.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, you should.” But Eva didn’t move, just stood there, maintaining eye contact with Kate. Fuck, she was so pretty.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Someone shouting Kate’s name pulled them out of their trance, and they looked away. Kate felt a blush rising to her face, but tried to tamp it down when she saw Chess running towards them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Kate, this is a bad idea,” she said breathlessly. “You can barely walk.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, I know, but it was </span>
  <em>
    <span>prophesied</span>
  </em>
  <span>, Chess.” Kate waved her hands around, trying to emphasize her point. “You know, written in the stars or whatever. I’m stuck going.” And she hadn’t had a quest in years, and she really, </span>
  <em>
    <span>really</span>
  </em>
  <span> was itching for an adventure.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Kate, ready to go?” Riley asked from behind her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wait!” someone yelled before she could answer. Kate threw her hands in the air.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Apparently, everyone wants to come,” she muttered, then stepped back as the new girls ran up, one dragging the other behind her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What?” Chess asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eva raised her hand a little, then quickly lowered it. “I, uh, I wanna come. I think I should come. And they want to come.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Chess rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Guess I’m coming, too.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, and so am I.” Yet another girl walked up, pulling her hair out from under her backpack. “Cairo. Riley’s best friend. I’m gonna make sure she doesn’t get killed.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, and we’re coming!” A boy and a girl appeared behind Kate. “We’ve been doing a ton of research on the </span>
  <em>
    <span>arai</span>
  </em>
  <span> for the past three days. Oh, I’m Clark, this is Reese.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m not coming,” Reese said hastily.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes, you are.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Riley shrugged. “The more the merrier!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wait, you’re actually allowing this?” Kate demanded.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yep!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Huh. She’s crazy.” Still, Kate had to admit, she wasn’t very mad about Chess coming.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Maybe this quest would be one final hurrah before Chess left.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>We spent FOREVER on that prophecy, is it good?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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